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The horrors of HOAs extend beyond sneaky fees and harsh regulations in William Bagley’s Hold the Fort. His suburban siege thriller pits buttoned-up community members against hordes of monsters brought forward by a Hellmouth. It’s sillier than, say, a supernatural version of Assault on Precinct 13, as Bagley favors residential yucks over frights. Enemies spawn at random as witches, werewolves, and “kamikaze bats” bash down doors and shatter windows, but overall quality is restricted by low-budget constraints. Don’t expect Cabin in the Woods’ elevator scene, which is proficient in its monster-mashing abilities. More of a creature-of-the-week television show that has no choice but to let the seams show.

Cityboy Lucas (Chris Mayers) and his hipster-presenting wife Jenny (Haley Leary) are the latest residents of the copy-and-paste housing development Gruber Hills. Hoa President Jerry (Julian Smith) gives them a warm welcome, with an invitation to their evening Equinox celebration.

Homeownership can be intimidating for first-timers, but, in the case of irreverent comedy-horror Hold the Fort, it’s downright deadly. Witer/Director William Bagley (The Murder Podcast) brings the laughs in his monster-a-minute style approach to homeownership. Not even its peculiar stance on HOAs or its budgetary constraints can hold back the almost DIY charm of this madcap, briskly paced creature feature, knowing exactly when to take a bow before overextending its welcome.

Like many horror couples before them, Jenny (Haley Leary) and Lucas (Chris Mayers) have just relocated from the city to their first home in an idyllic suburban neighborhood. They’ve barely moved in when Jenny is perturbed to learn that their new, exclusive digs come with the very thing Jenny didn’t want: an Hoa. It just so happens to be the day of the Hoa’s annual gathering at the clubhouse. Lucas drags his begrudging partner to the party,...

Directed by William Bagley, from a screenplay co-written with Scott Hawkins, Hold The Fort is a silly action-packed horror-comedy about all the bullshit of homeownership; Property maintenance, small talk with the neighbours, portals to Hell that open up during the Equinox to allow witches and werewolves and demons (and more!) to rampage your community at night. You know, all the normal adult life hassles. This goofy gory good time recently celebrated it’s World Premiere at the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival and features a whole cast of kooky characters, including comedy YouTuber/director Julian Smith (Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda) who stars as the Ned Flanders coded President of a surprising trigger happy Home Owners Association.

Having to navigate the busybodies of a Home Owner’s Association (Hoa) for something as simple as installing a birdfeeder sounds like a circle of Hell that exists here on Earth, if you ask me.

Hold The Fort Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival

Failure to read the small print in a homeowners’ association contract leads to trouble in William Bagley’s Hold The Fort, which screened as part of Fantasia 2025, with new homeowners not realising until too late that they’re now under obligation to help hold off waves of monsters from a nearby hellmouth on an annual basis. It’s a film which begins with a party and the cast seems to have experienced the shoot in a similar way. In fact, they’re still overflowing with excitement about it, to the point where cast members Chris Mayers and Levi Burdick decide to crash the interview I had arranged with William, and it takes a little while to get the to sit still and restrain their banter enough for me to get a question in. When I do, I ask William if he...

The 2025 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival got off to a hell of a start with the opening day world premiere of William Bagley’s suburbanites vs. monsters from hell horror comedy, Hold the Fort. Freshly christened homeowners, Lucas (Chris Mayers) and Jenny (Haley Leary) are in for the night of their lives when they learn that their Hoa does quite a bit more than simply measure the growth of the neighborhood lawns and admonish those who put their trash cans out too early. Their new housing development has an added feature that is possibly even more exciting than the soon-to-be-completed pool: a portal to hell! While Lucas is gung-ho on their new lifestyle, city girl Jenny is a bit more hesitant and worried...

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There’s a limit to which we can endure films built around monstrous invasions. William Bagley’s “Hold The Fort” (2025) is painful to sit through, as lazy as ploddingly clumsy. Nothing is propping it up in terms of inventive imaging or scintillating action. In other words, it’s dead on arrival. The film opens with Lucas (Chris Mayers) and Jenny (Haley Leary) moving into their new house. They have dreams and anticipation regarding how their lives will proceed in a change of neighbourhood. Lucas is the more charged of the two; Jenny flinches at the prospect of tackling the community association. She’s cautious about it, but he dismisses her anxieties. Soon, the association’s president, Jerry (Julian Smith), lands at their doorstep. Exuberant and enthused, he insists they attend the equinox party that night. But there’s a caveat.

It turns out the community has a strange portal, connecting directly to hell.

Movies that purposefully try to be campy can be a risky endeavor, often falling more in the realm of cringy than charming. Not without its flaws but incredibly enjoyable, William Bagley’s Hold the Fort is a robust horror-comedy that brings plenty of laughs and a satisfying amount of gory fun — a worthy homage to the cult classics it references.

Hold the Fort Review

Hold the Fort follows a couple who think they have found an idyllic home in a quiet suburban community, only to discover that once a year, a bevy of supernatural monsters use a portal directly into their neighborhood to invade the Earth. What follows is an action-packed night of defending their new home from otherworldly monsters.

For many audience members, their enjoyment of Hold the Fort will live or die depending on how much they can get on the film’s comedic wavelength. Much of the...

Jenny (Haley Leary) never wanted to live somewhere with a Home Owners’ Association. Her husband Lucas (Chris Mayers) seems considerably more enthused about the move to the suburbs, though they both like the house, there’s no property tax, and they can’t complain about the price. It will be for the best, Lucas suggests, if they at least try to be friendly with their new neighbours, so when Hoa president Jerry invites them to attend an equinox party, she reluctantly agrees.

Jerry (Julian Smith) is one of those persistently cheery people who, in a parallel universe, might have been played by a young Bruce Campbell. In a brief prologue alerting viewers to the threat which Jenny and Lucas are yet to discover, we have seen him praised by his boss for his vision and coping skills, and it’s not long before we get a hint of how much he has coped.

"You can always tell which neighbors are gonna last... Good luck, son." Ha! Blue Finch Films has revealed the teaser trailer for a film titled Hold the Fort, which is premiering this month at the prestigious 2025 Fantasia Film Festival up in Montreal.

Homeownership is an insane hell in the new teaser for the action-packed horror-comedy Hold the Fort, set to premiere later this month at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

Watch the new teaser below, which unleashes a kitchen sink of raucous horror fun, from bad neighbors to over-the-top monster mayhem.

Hold the Fort follows “Lucas and Jenny, who think their life is finally coming together when the couple become homeowners. Little do they know that their new house comes with a big catch. Lucas and Jenny soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they become trapped in a battle between their Homeowners Association and an onslaught of monsters from hell. The horror-comedy takes the timely concern of homeownership and wraps this up in an entertaining, action-packed thrill ride.”

The horror-comedy is written and directed by William Bagley (The Murder Podcast), with story by Scott Hawkins.

The aim of Hold the Fort,...

Exclusive:The UK’s Blue Finch Films has boarded sales onWilliam Bagley’scomedy horrorHold The Fort.

The film is set to screen at the Fantasia International Film Festival, running from July 7 to August 3 in Montreal.

Hold The Fortis about acouple who think their life is finally coming together when they become homeowners. Little do they know that their new house comes with a big catch.

The film was written by Bagley who also produced alongside Matt Dodd and Luke Williams who both worked with Bagley on 2021 film The Murder Podcast. Tim Reis and Julian Smith also serve as producers.

Chris Mayers,...

Plot: A podcasting duo gets more than they bargained for when they decide to investigate a local murder.

Review: Writer/director William Bagley’s horror comedy The Murder Podcast begins with a man – who is described as being both an avid gamer and an avid drinker – taking a hike in the woods. He finds an old coin on the ground and pockets it… which turns out to be a fatal mistake. This coin doesn’t belong to the legendary horror icon the Leprechaun, but there is another supernatural being out there who has made it their mission to kill anyone who possesses the coin. So by the end of the night, the guy has literally lost his head.

After that, we’re introduced to the lead characters, Chad Thadwick (Andrew McDermott) and his best bro Eddie (Cooper Bucha). Chad doesn’t do much with his life other than sit in...

This Halloween, Beware Dead Air. The Murder Podcast On Digital October 26 This Halloween, podcaster Chad goes to deadly lengths to gain new listeners. Will it result in dead air? From writer/director William Bagley, and starring Andrew McDermott, Cooper Bucha, Brian Emond, Scott Hawkins, Logan Mariner, and Chris Mayers, The Murder Podcast broadcasts October 26 …

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The Murder Podcast On Digital October 26 This Halloween, podcaster Chad goes to deadly lengths to gain new listeners. Will it result in dead air? From writer/director William Bagley, and starring Andrew McDermott, Cooper Bucha, Brian Emond, Scott Hawkins, Logan Mariner, and Chris Mayers, The Murder Podcast broadcasts October 26 on digital platforms. Desperate to …

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